Poor life choices - C4 content

Cam and heads really choke a tbi engine.

At this point, with the frustration levep and issues youve had, one of three options stand out:

1. Pay the man to tune the carb. Should be a local racer/hot rod shop that can have you going for 100 bucks and an hour.

2. Buy a new carb, get it close, and go back to 1

3. Reinstall the tpi and go from there. Diagnose with favtory documentation.

In reply to Dusterbd13:

I called the place Stampie found & left a message yesterday. Hopefully they call back.

One other option is Ovid_and_Flem is doing a carb conversion too, and his TPI setup was working fine. I'd need the ECU/sensors/harness/injectors, since his is a completely different setup than my 1-year-only 85, but it should all bolt on. That's a lot of work though, and still isn't the direction I want to be heading.

If I don't get a reply from the carb shop, a $350 Holley is probably the cheapest/easiest option for now. Although it's easy to just say "For $500 more I can get the FiTech..."

The Carb I gave Him was a Known to me Carb, It sat in a box in my shop for several years, I sent it to him so he could come in Under Challenge Budget.Hell I even Paid Freight. That Bird Has Flown,To help If he wants another carb, I will buy that one,Maybe even the Intake, Sadly I live too Far away to go Find out whats up. Get the Old Injectors Cleaned Or get some New Ones Put the TPI Back on Start Over, Peace, Love, and the rest of that Happy Happy.

In reply to Pete Gossett:

You're welcome to all my TPI components. Consider it a birthday present as TODAY IS PETE'S BIRTHDAY!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PETE

Happy, Happy, Happy.!!!

Happy birthday. You should celebrate with a burn out.

In reply to Stampie:

Thanks!

I took SBF for a ride in it this week, but it wasn't running well enough to do one.

In reply to Ovid_and_Flem:

Thanks!

Hello Pete

Just a few thoughts -

1.Dirt in the fuel system? Explains the runs fine/barely runs contradiction 2.What psi is your fuel pressure set? probably at the low range is needed ( 1-3 psi) for a carb you might have to tweak a bit to get that dialed in right 3.Three miatas really are -one mega mileage , one locked up, one wrecked. So one ragged out miata. Make a cash offer for that or the locked up engine one and push it around back in the yard, that'll cure the miata fever.

Great thread, great effort, sometimes you gotta walk away from the car for a bit. A cool down period.

In reply to Agent98:

Plus it really sucks when the new owner tells you "Yeah I spend 30 minutes and found blah blah blah, fixed it for no money and it runs like a scalded cat now!"

Happy birthday Pete.

Pete Gossett wrote: In reply to Stampie: Thanks! I took SBF for a ride in it this week, but it wasn't running well enough to do one.

I'm still trying to figure out SBF. Small block Ford? Maybe it'd fit. Single boyfriend? If he's a boyfriend then he wouldn't be single. Single Black Female? Makes the most sense but does your wife know and is she ok with it?

petegossett wrote: The "poor life choice" is that a.) I've never actually finished a project car. Ever. And b.) what I really needed at this point was something cheap, reliable, and practical. At least I got one of the three.

Also I thought I should bring this up to the present. Time to finally finish a project.

In reply to Stampie:

SBF = SyntheticBlinkerFluid

Even if/when I get it running well consistently it's still a long way from being done. I've not dug back into the RR brake to see why it squealed after the last long drive, it needs tires before I can do any highway driving, new weather seals to make it mostly water-tight, and there is some clunking between D/R that makes me think U-joints are on the short list too.

In reply to conesare2seconds:

Thanks!

In reply to Agent98:

I'm getting a steady 6-6.5psi - 6 at the regulator, 6.5 on the E36 M3ty gauge attached to the fuel line. I've not seen any fluctuation, but I wouldn't be able to see it while driving either.

There are enough Miatas/parts in the lot to make one fun/decently nice driver, and have a good start at an Emod car too, but neither of those would be quick to accomplish - realistically with summer weather it would probably be next winter before I made much progress. That's longer than I want to wait.

Stampie wrote:

Pete Gossett wrote: In reply to Stampie: Thanks! I took SBF for a ride in it this week, but it wasn't running well enough to do one.

I'm still trying to figure out SBF. Small block Ford? Maybe it'd fit. Single boyfriend? If he's a boyfriend then he wouldn't be single. Single Black Female? Makes the most sense but does your wife know and is she ok with it?

Seriously?

In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:

Sorry I was hungry and not thinking right. It happens to us fat guys.

if you don't have one, suggesting one of these

fuel pressure regulator with engine vacuum feedback

The carb conversion only needs 1-2 psi idle then 4-5 at WOT, needs to vary by engine vac/rpm for a carb set up

In reply to Agent98:

I'd not heard that before, thanks!

At 9:30 EST this evening I started getting the shakes and sweats. I didn't know what the hell was going on until I realized it's been 6 days since Pete updated the build and he normal post updates by 9:30. Pete it's your fault I'm going through withdrawals right now. Don't make me start working on my own stuff. Your drugs are much higher quality.

In reply to Stampie:

Sorry man, here's your fix!

Actually I did get a bit of work done this week. I'd ordered parts to repair the digital dash a couple weeks ago & finally got it out back together last night. Sadly the displays are still flickering wild gibberish, but at least I can see the gibberish now. I'm going to contact the vendor & see if they can provide any suggestions for what else I should test/try.

I also checked the questionable carb stud tonight & discovered it was loose, so that's almost certainly causing a vacuum leak, and hopefully responsible for the poor running. I pulled the stud out & im going to try using a wire in the stripped threads to see if I can get enough bite. If not where could I find a helicoil kit for whatever weird thread pitch carb studs use?

Lastly, I ran to IL & back last weekend, and grabbed some of my scrap metal while I was there, so I can make a plate to mount my toggle switches.

Most carb studs a 5/16 coarse in the intake.

Glad to see the tropical storm that hit Biloxi didn't wash you away.

I'm thinking fine thread where they go into the alum. intake then Course for the clamp nuts.

Glad to see you got it running. I vote for a new carb or have the local carb pros check it out, after you get the mounting squared away. It may run fine. There are companies that refurb the dash (EBay?) fairly cheap, if you feel like investing. Missed a lot of these projects due to an operation and complications. No time or strength to work on my Vette either. Keep on keeping on.

In reply to Dirtydog:

Welcome back!

I called & left a message a couple weeks ago with the Velocity Carbs place Stampie found, but they didn't call back. I'm hoping fixing the mounting stud will get it running well enough to at least determine if I still have problems with the RR brake.